4 Steps for Mobilizing Your Sales Team

Getting Your Sales Team Mobile

Today’s business owners and managers have a multitude of options with managing their sales team. So, it’s essential that you include a plan in your sales strategy leverage a mobile sales team. One option, customer relationship management systems, allow team leaders to control contact distribution, organize schedules, and even keep track of each team member’s activity.

While CRM systems can be straightforward to use once they’re put into motion, they do require a bit of setup. The key is to ensure your setup actually works for your team and accomplishes your business objectives. In this guide, we’ll reveal how to get your sales team performing with an efficiently run CRM system.

1. Streamline Your Pipeline & Workflow

Even if you’re great at running a business, there’s no guarantee your vision will be clear to every member of your sales team–every person processes information differently. When developing your CRM strategy, try writing down each step of your sales pipeline. Then, have one of your field team members write down his or her version of the pipeline steps.

If your field team member presents you with a different list of steps, it’s time to evaluate your strategy. A CRM coach can help you map out your company’s pipeline process. A map will create a clear path for your team and help define the roles of a sales team.

No matter what the size of the sales team, it’s important to have a consistent, easy-to-follow sales process, so no lead is left unattended. The system should be replicable for every lead in your company’s database. If your business doesn’t currently have a straightforward, replicable pipeline process, make fixing this issue your top priority.

TIP: Make sure everyone on your team knows the pipeline model. In our non-stop world, it’s easy for leads to slip through the cracks.

2. Create a Mobile Friendly Pipeline Process

Streamlining your pipeline process is only one way to automate your sales force. When creating a sales strategy, you want to make sure that team members are traveling through each stage of the process, adding valuable information to your CRM. To do this, it’s important to make your CRM mobile-friendly.

When your team can easily type out notes while on the go, you’ll receive more up-to-date, high-quality information. If team members need to wait until they’re back on their office computer to add notes to the system, important pieces of data could be lost. Other note-taking systems, like paper notepads, are easily misplaced or damaged.

Many of today’s CRMs feature mobile apps; however, sometimes these apps won’t meet your company’s needs. There are a variety of third-party apps on the market today that allow your sales force to log information, set notes, and even make follow-up appointments while on the go. This makes it easy for managers to ensure members are productive.

3. Encourage & Empower your Sales Team

Any time a company transitions into a new mobile system, there’s a risk of sacrificing your team’s flexibility and versatility. If one of your team members feels uncomfortable with the mobile app, it could affect the notes or information he or she provides. Ultimately, this could have a negative impact on your team’s sales quota.

Mobilizing Your Sales Team

One way to confront this problem is by empowering your sales force. Most importantly, show your team how the app can benefit their productivity. For example, mobile apps significantly cut back on cumbersome paperwork–instead of carrying multiple folders to meetings, a rep can easily pull files from a tablet or smartphone.

Another way to encourage your team to use the app is by reframing the system — reintroducing the app and explaining its benefits isn’t the same as demanding that the team use it for their work. You may even decide to switch to a better mobile app if the team provides negative feedback on a new system.

4. Stay Attentive to Your Team’s Performance

Once you implement all the right CRM systems, you can manage your team from the office just as if you were working with them in the field. After the roles of a sales team are transparent and you train every member on the new technology, you can begin to focus on the data and analytics your CRM provides.

Most CRM systems contain administrative and management tools. These tools generate reports that show a team’s sales opportunities at any given time. You can view how many leads are coming in from various sources and assign them to the appropriate reps. Some apps also allow you to personalize your dashboard, enabling you to quickly view important data every time you log in.

Over to you

Real-time reporting from a CRM system allows you to fix issues as they occur, instead of waiting to make changes at a monthly sales meeting. Ultimately, using a streamlined CRM system can help your sales force save valuable time while meeting your company’s sales quota.

Eric Melillo is the Founder & CEO of COFORGE | A Growth Agency | HubSpot Silver Partner | Helping SMBs Grow Better using Inbound & HubSpot. Eric is also a lover of family, friends, and life. He enjoys good health, Tae Kwon-Do and discovering the most influential marketing trends.

Eric Melillo

Eric Melillo is the Founder & CEO of COFORGE | A Growth Agency | HubSpot Silver Partner | Helping SMBs Grow Better using Inbound & HubSpot. Eric is also a lover of family, friends, and life. He enjoys good health, Tae Kwon-Do and discovering the most influential marketing trends.